All life in the company of neuromuscular preparation (on the 160th anniversary of N. E. Vvedensky)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the main scientific achievements of an outstanding neurophysiologist, the corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, professor of Saint-Petersburg State University N. E. Vvedensky, who was one of the founders of a world famous Saint-Petersburg physiological school. Registering action currents in nervous fibers N. E. Vvedensky managed to hear excitation rhythms in a nervous trunk with the help of a telephone. By comparing nerve and muscle excitation rhythms he detected a phenomenon of nerve irritation optimum and pessimum. N. E. Vvedensky found out that a considerable stimulus amplification or acceleration result in muscle contraction weakening (pessimum effect). He also demonstrated a significant role of stimulus frequency and introduced a concept of lability, or functional mobility. N. E. Vvedensky is known for the theory of parabiosis, which is represented in his monography «Excitation, inhibition and narcosis». According to his doctrine, inhibition is a modification of excitation. If the stimulus exceeds the lability level, excitation can become localized (inhibition develops). Physiological investigations of the 20^th century completely proved N.E.Vvedensky theory, which has become a powerful basis for modern electrophysiology.

Keywords:

Neurophsiology school of St. Petersburg university, neuromuscular function, theory of parabiosis